David Alan Grier made a bargain with himself: If “The First,” the musical he starred in after graduating from Yale School of Drama in 1981, saw just one night on Broadway, he’d be satisfied. Now, nearly 40 years later, the actor is one of today’s pre-eminent performers, and he’s back on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company’s “A Soldier’s Play”—a piece he was originally part of in its initial 1982 staging.
What has playing Sergeant Vernon C. Waters—and returning to a play from your past—added to your acting skills?
It’s challenged me a lot, because of the emotional demands on me as an actor. To play all those notes—sometimes Sergeant Waters turns on a dime from one line to the next. To do that honestly and without a false note or manipulation requires me to be in a free and relaxed state so I can draw on that and inhabit it completely.
How did you get your Equity card?
When I was in drama school—I went to Yale Drama School—the directors for the [Yale Repertory Theatre] approached me in my last year, and they said, “David, would you mind if we submitted you for this Broadway production?” I was like, “Would I mind? What, are you nuts? Hell, yeah!” They submitted me and I started a series of auditions. I think I auditioned eight times. Every audition was hours long. I had to sing, I had to dance, I had to read. The book was dramatic. It was a unique project. That musical, called “The First,” was my first professional job. It’s how I got my Equity card.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have listened anyway. If I tried to give my younger self advice, we’d argue for two hours about [whether] I am the real me from the future. I would’ve been like, “You’re not me, so fuck off!” When I graduated from drama school, my parents were there, and I prayed to God. I said, “Please, give me one job right away and then I’ll be broke and unemployed for 10 years.” I just wanted to show my parents that all of these years were worth it. Then I got “The First,” and I said, “Please, just let us open on Broadway, don’t close the show. Just one night, and then I’ll be broke for 10 years and I’ll never ask for anything.” All of that came true, and the rest was gravy. The reviews came out, and they were bad and mixed and I remembered my mom posted a sympathy card on the board in the theater. I sat there [thinking], Only my mother [would come] prepared with an opening night Broadway sympathy card just in case things didn’t go well. I think it said, “It must be bad for you now.”
Would you consider “The First” your first big break? Who were the casting directors who cast you?
Oh, absolutely. I won the Theatre World Award, I was nominated for a Tony—it brought me into the business. I was the star of the musical, so there was a lot of press. It led to everything. It gave me the cachet when everyone knew me. It was [cast by] Meg Simon and Fran Kumin, and Martin Charnin directed it because he had done “Annie.” We went to see “Annie” when we were in rehearsal, and Sarah Jessica Parker—I think she was Annie—that’s when I met her. I was sitting there with tears in my eyes and they were like, “Why are you so emotional?” and I was like, “I hope we run four and a half years, too!” [Laughs] It was really fun, and Sarah and I talk a lot about that. She remembers it, I remember it—we were so young. I had hair back then. It was beautiful!
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What is your worst audition horror story?
After “The First” closed, I think I auditioned for some summer stock musical—it was nothing big—and I could hear them talking: “Wow, he was nominated for a Tony? Totally unimpressed.” I was crestfallen. I don’t even remember the name of the project. I auditioned one time for Shakespeare in the Park. They were doing a hipper version of “La Bohème,” and you had to sing an opera aria. I didn’t sing opera, but I went to a vocal teacher. You had to hit a high C, and I didn’t know if I could. We went over my range and my highs and lows and then we started working on this piece from the opera. Every time we got to the high C, I would crack. As I was walking out, the vocal coach said, “David, you hit that high C perfectly every time when we warmed up, but then when we worked through it, you never hit it again. You have a high C, you just have to find it.” Of course, I didn’t get that part. I totally choked.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done to get a role?
There wasn’t social media in 1981 when I started, but I learned early on that if I saw someone socially whose work I admired, I’d just tell them, “I want to work with you. Why haven’t we worked together?” That’s broken the ice. I know that’s why I’m working with [“A Soldier’s Play” director] Kenny Leon. That’s helped—not in every circumstance, but it’s happened and it’s worked for me more times than not.
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What performance should every actor see and why?
I remember when we were doing “Porgy and Bess,” “Jerusalem” was on Broadway at the time. Mark Rylance was mind-blowing, in terms of an acting tour de force. It blew me away. Another amazing, forever memorable stage performance was [when] I saw Raúl Juliá and Meryl Streep do “Taming of the Shrew” in the park. It was so glorious and just amazing, awesome acting. Raúl and Meryl were so much in sync. It was a glory to behold. I’ll tell you a quick sidebar: I was doing Shakespeare in the Park, and Meryl Streep came to see it. I believe it was “Richard III.” Kevin Kline was in it. She came down, under the stage, and we were talking. I was just transfixed, it was an out-of-body experience. She walks away, and this actress, Concetta Tomei, came over and said, “I think I met her in another lifetime.” And I went, “Right?” [Laughs] She saw me and she experienced the same thing and we were totally like, fuck. I continue to hold [Meryl] on such a pedestal, but she was so real and I felt like she was seeing through my soul when we were talking.
Do you have a history with Backstage?
Back in the day, that was my go-to! Every week, that was one of the things: When I got my Backstage, I was like, OK, now I’m a real actor. I’m in New York, I have my Equity card [and] Backstage. Boom boom.
This story originally appeared in the Jan. 30 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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